The advent of smart phones and other mobile computing devices has brought upon fundamental changes in the way people interact with each other and with their devices. People have become more connected and demanded more real-time communications regardless of their whereabouts. However, this new technology also gives rise to new and unpredictable human activities.
For example, the use of applications on mobile devices during times the user ought not to be using the applications has now become a serious, well-known problem. Use of applications on mobile devices at inappropriate times or for inappropriate lengths of time can distract users from prudent behavior. In an extreme situation, misuse of mobile devices can adversely affect the safety of the users themselves as well as the safety of the people in their surroundings.
For another example, use of mobile devices while driving can distract drivers and make them more prone to accidents. This safety problem affects a large number of drivers. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's 2008 survey, over 800,000 drivers on the road on any given day are actively using mobile devices and distracted driving played a factor in 16% of vehicle accidents. Studies indicate that crash risks may be increased as much as 23× when a driver is actively using a mobile device and that use may be as, if not more, distracting than driving while intoxicated or under the influence of drugs.
Given these grim statistics, and not surprisingly, parents are concerned when buying mobile devices for their children, and particularly, their teenagers. Many parents also worry that their children will use the devices during undesired times including school and late hours or during driving. Additional concerns include worries that children will abuse their calling privileges that would result in a higher phone bill, loss of the phone resulting in unauthorized access, or communicate with a stranger without their parents' knowledge or consent.
Similarly, employers can incur significant liability when their employees, during the course of employment, misuse their mobile devices and directly or indirectly cause the loss of properties or life. For example, a high speed train operator may engage in impermissible text messaging while negotiating a sharp turn and negligently causes the train to derail due to excessive speed around the turn. Employers may also want to control mobile device apps or features, such as a camera app in sensitive places to protect their trade secrets.
Therefore, parents and employers alike have the need and desire to manage the mobile devices under their control to prevent misuse of these devices.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2013/0225151A1 discloses a mobile device parental controlling device which includes a communication interface for control communication with one or more associated devices of the controlling device, and the associated devices correspond to members of a group. A parental control service is implemented to receive an input of a device control via a parental control user interface, where the device control is initiated for one or more of the associated devices that are controllable by the controlling device. The parental control service can then initiate communication of the device control to the associated devices that are controlled by the controlling device.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2013/0225152A1 discloses an automatically quieting mobile device which includes a communication interface for communicating with other devices that are associated with the mobile device, and the other devices correspond to respective users of the devices. A device quiet service is implemented to initiate a device quiet control that quiets one or more of the other associated devices that are controllable by the mobile device, and the device quiet service initiates communication of the device quiet control to the associated devices. A device quiet control can be initiated to restrict communication functions of the other associated devices, such as for a designated time duration. Alternatively or in addition, a device quiet control can quiet the other associated devices at a designated location, during an event, within a designated quiet zone, and/or quiet the associated devices that are proximate the mobile device at a location.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,899,438 discloses a system and method for the real-time management of a device, and more particularly to the establishment and enforcement of policies or rules associated with the feature or functions that may be performed with the device. The system comprises: (1) a policy decider for storing a list of policies that control one or more features or functions associated with the communication device and for automatically deciding to accept or deny a request sent to or from the communication device to perform the features or functions based on the list of policies, the list of policies including a policy for managing content that can be sent, received, or used by the communication device; and (2) a policy enforcer for communicating the request to the policy decider and enforcing a decision by the policy decider as to whether the request has been accepted or denied by either notifying the user of the denied request and taking one or more actions consistent with the denied request or taking one or more actions consistent with the accepted request.
However, none of these systems discloses or teaches a system that includes one or more of the following features: managing a mobile device by monitoring user events at the mobile device, allowing an administrator (or parent) to pre-select or pre-specify restriction policies at the managed mobile device, from a different device, or at a remote server, and which policies are synchronized across multiple devices managed by the administrator and the remote server and associated remote database. Furthermore, none of these systems provides any anti-tampering system to prevent user from circumventing the restriction policies placed on the mobile device.
Accordingly, there is a need for a new system and method which would enable parents, employers, or administrators to transparently manage usage of the various mobile devices so as to ensure usage of these devices complies with best practices or standards regardless of the operating systems of the managed mobile devices.